Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami on Wednesday called for the approval of 2.5 per cent as requisite commission arising from recovery of off-shore stolen assets from the country.
He made the appeal while defending the Ministry of Justice 2020 budget estimates before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters at the National Assembly.
Malami who said that a unit in the ministry had deposited all recovered assets so far into Federal Government Treasury, insisted that “we need requisite commission to replenish our efforts.”
The attorney-general also said that the ministry was mandated to take inventory and explore avenues for the payment of judgment-debt which had became hydra headed.
“This has arisen because it was only in 2017 that N10 billion was disbursed for the payment of judgment-debt as appropriated.
“As it stands, N150 billion remains unpaid, prompting beneficiaries of this sum to keep mounting pressures on the ministry,” he said.
Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele said that the committee would perform legislative oversight over the ministry and agencies that reported to it.
“The committee is worried about the judgment-debt profile of the country which keeps soaring by the day as there are no corresponding budgetary allocations to handle such.
“It is on record that the last allocation the ministry got for judgment-debt was in the 2017 Appropriation Act where N10 billion was appropriated.
“The committee is deeply concerned with the failure of our government to service its judgment-debt as expected, which has put our image before the international community at stake.
“The committee would strive to ensure that budgetary provisions are made to offset the debt burden,” Bamidele said.(NAN)
